17 Cottage Garden Plants for a Yard Full of Color

Create a low-maintenance cottage garden with these classic flowering plants.

purple and white Laura phlox
Photo: Tom McWilliam

Cottage garden style is all about soft lines, heirloom varieties, and unstructured flower beds. This informal style of garden is usually achieved by annuals and flowering bulbs that provide ground-level sweeps of color and by perennials that add spontaneous background highlights. Here are 17 low-maintenance plants that are must-haves for your cottage garden.

01 of 17

Bellflower

Peach-leaf Bellflower
Jeff McNamara

This easy-to-grow perennial produces white or blue flowers that grow on stiff, sturdy stems. Bellflower (Campanula persicifolia) blooms in late spring to early summer, and like most cottage garden plants, it makes a great flower for cutting.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil

Size: To 3 feet tall

Zones: 3-7, depending on variety

02 of 17

Bigleaf Hydrangea

Pink Hydrangea

Alise O'Brien

With lots of exciting varieties to choose from, bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla) shrubs produce large clusters of pink, blue, or white flowers in early summer. Those big blooms look gorgeous in a cut flower arrangement if you can bear to take them out of your garden.

Growing Conditions: Part sun to full shade and medium moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 10 feet tall

Zones: 5-11

03 of 17

Columbine

Aquilegia canadensis Columbine
Brie Passano

A dainty-looking but easy-to-grow perennial, columbine (Aquilegia spp.) blooms in spring and early summer. Its colorful flowers are loved by hummingbirds and gardeners alike, making them an excellent low-maintenance cottage garden idea.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade in well-drained soil

Size: To 3 feet tall

Zones: 3-8, depending on variety

04 of 17

Coral Bells

dense clump red coralbells
Peter Krumhardt

These rugged, low-growing perennials produce finely cut leaves in a gorgeous assortment of chartreuse, purple, red, bronze, green, and silver. In spring and early summer, coral bells (Heuchera spp.) have sprays of pink, red, or white flowers. These flowers are a top choice for hummingbirds.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil

Size: To 18 inches tall

Zones: 3-8

05 of 17

Daisy

daisy (Leucanthemum)
Peter Krumhardt

The daisy (Leucanthemum spp.) provides long-lasting summer blooms and a classic beauty that works well in any cottage garden design. Its bright white flowers with sunny yellow centers are perfect for beds and borders and cutting gardens.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil

Size: To 3 feet tall

Zones: 5-9

06 of 17

Delphinium

delphinium 'blue bird' in garden
David McDonald

Producing stately spires in shades of purple, blue, pink, and white, delphinium is one of the most regal cottage garden plants. These taller types of perennials do need staking to protect them from the wind, but they're well worth the extra work.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: 4-6 feet tall, depending on variety

Zones: 3-7, depending on variety

07 of 17

Dianthus

pink dianthus

BHG / Evgeniya Vlasova

Filling spring gardens with their sweet scents, dianthus varieties offer pretty blooms in shades of pink, red, and white. Deadhead the spent flowers to promote a second bloom when their flowering declines.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil

Size: To 1 foot tall

Zones: 6-9, depending on variety

08 of 17

Foxglove

Foxglove Digitalis varieties
Ed Gohlich

This woodland beauty reliably produces beautiful upright spikes of bell-shaped flowers in shades of purple, pink, and white. Most common foxgloves (Digitalis spp.) self-seed and appear each year in the garden. However, only a basal rosette of leaves is produced in the first year from seed. The plant's flowers produced in the second year sit atop leafy spires rising from the centers of the rosettes. Grow this plant with caution because all parts of it are highly poisonous.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil

Size: 2-5 feet tall, depending on variety

Zones: 4-8, depending on variety

09 of 17

Hollyhock

varying shades of pink Alcea rosea Hollyhock near barn
Peter Krumhardt

Always an eye-catching low maintenance cottage garden idea, hollyhocks (Alcea rosea) bear large, colorful flowers on stems that can reach 8 feet tall. They bloom in a wide range of shades, from nearly black to red, purple, yellow, and white.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and medium moist well-drained soil

Size: 6-8 feet tall, depending on variety

Zones: 2-10

10 of 17

Iris

bearded iris
Jason Donnelly

Many irises are wonderfully fragrant flowers, offering many blooms available in a rainbow of colors and sizes. Siberian iris is an easy favorite for cottage gardens, with its grassy leaves, graceful flowers, and lack of appeal to rabbits.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil

Height: to 4 feet tall

Zones: 3-8

11 of 17

Lady's Mantle

Yellow Alchemilla Close
Matthew Benson

This classic, low-growing perennial offers sprays of chartreuse blooms in spring and green foliage that's fuzzy to the touch. That fuzz often catches early morning dewdrops, giving lady's mantle a spangled appearance. Try growing lady's mantle (Alchemilla mollis) as an elegant landscape edging plant along a path or at the front of a perennial border.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil

Size: 1-2 feet tall

Zones: 3-8

12 of 17

Lavender

lavender patch
David Patterson

Both ornamental and useful, lavender (Lavandula spp.) bears fragrant foliage and flowers that draw pollinators. The blooms typically appear in shades of violet and white. They're lovely for drying and using in sachets and other craft projects.

Growing Conditions: Full sun and well-drained soil

Size: 1-2 feet tall

Zones: 5-8, depending on variety

13 of 17

Peony

'Mini Belle' Peony Blooms
Blaine Moats

Peonies (Paeonia spp.) are some of the most romantic plants with their showy, petal-packed blooms. They bloom in mid-to-late spring. They look stunning, give off a wonderful fragrance, and are virtually pest-free. In addition, peonies perform well outside your garden. You can enjoy cut peonies in a vase for up to three weeks with the proper upkeep, or dry them to admire their colors even longer.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 3 feet tall, depending on variety

Zones: 3-8, depending on variety

14 of 17

Perennial Geranium

Perennial Geranium 'Johnson's Blue'
Nancy Rotenberg

Perennial geraniums are perfect as cottage garden plants, large and small. An especially impressive variety is 'Johnson's Blue', which offers beautiful blue-purple flowers in early summer. These plants also have vibrant foliage colors in the fall.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 18 inches tall

Zones: 4-8

15 of 17

Phlox

purple and white Laura phlox
Tom McWilliam

One of the boldest plants in late-summer gardens, garden phlox (Phlox paniculata) produces stunning clusters of white, pink, lavender, and red blooms atop tall stems. The flowers are often delightfully fragrant, which helps them attract hummingbirds and other pollinators like butterflies.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and medium moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 4 feet, depending on variety

Zones: 4-8

16 of 17

Sweet William

'Sooty' Sweet William
Peter Krumhardt

A biennial that typically self-seeds, sweet William (Dianthus barbatus) produces beautiful clusters of fragrant blooms from late spring to early summer. The flowers come in vivid red, pink, white, and bi-color shades. The blooms make gorgeous additions to flower bouquets, and they attract pollinators.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and well-drained soil

Size: To 2 feet tall

Zones: 3-9, depending on variety

17 of 17

Violet

Johnny-jump-up violet
David Nevala

With their edible and fragrant blooms, violets are among the most charming flowers for cottage gardens. These cool-weather lovers are perennials that will add color to your garden in spring and often bloom again in fall.

Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and evenly moist, well-drained soil

Size: To 9 inches tall

Zones: 6-11, depending on variety

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